Factor Structure and Construct Validity of the Chinese Version of the Theory of Planned Behavior Questionnaire (TPB-Q) for Eating Disorders among University Students

Abstract

The number of eating disorders is increasing among adolescents and young adults. Long-term serious eating disorders have been influenced these people’s physical and mental health, leading to a wide variety of intention and behavioral, cognitive-emotional, and neurological problems and risks. The purpose of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the theory of planned behavior questionnaire in eating disorders among undergraduate students in China. The study chose four hundred eighty-one undergraduate randomly selected students who participated in the survey. The English version of the eating disorder-theory of planned behavior questionnaire (ED-TPB-Q) was translated into the Chinese version, through the exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The results that overall Cronbach’s alpha was .93 (AT= .77, SN= .85, PBC= .76, IN= .90), and the four-variable of the ED-TPB-Q structure model (31 items) was suitable for Chinese culture by the data collected from the sample. According to cross-cultural validation, the ED-TPB-Q can provide steady structural support for predicting eating disorders risk factors, and it can be an effective questionnaire to assess eating disorder behavior intention among Chinese undergraduate students, but it still needs big data to examine in further study.